Radioactive
by The Charmed Rose
Summary: Left with many questions but no answers, Quinn is at a loss as to what happened to her friend Oliver on the island. But with a sinister past of her own catching up to her, Quinn unknowingly puts herself in the crossfire of Arrow's war against his enemies.


_Tick tock. Tick tock._

_Is this what my life has been reduced to?_

It was the only thought that seemed to cross Quinn's mind, as she stared blankly at the small clock she had placed on her work desk.

Her editor had been in a meeting for exactly two hours, however Quinn desperately needed to see him. She was one of the many reporters behind _The Starling City Gazette_, and was one of their finest reporters.

Two hours previously she had picked up a major lead on the workings of a hit man, whose works extended mostly to the reaches of Gotham and Metropolis.

She was positive that Bill should be made aware of it, but as she arrived in the office it hadn't taken her long to realize he was in a meeting. Two hours later, and she was sure boredom had taken up a whole new meaning.

Suddenly without warning, a swell of well-dressed thirty something men and woman flooded out from the vast office Bill operated in. She guessed they were board members or something money wise, as the weasel faced Adam Hunt was not missed by her.

He was a proud, majestic millionaire, who seemed to carry himself with the weight of his ego. Personally Quinn held an intense dislike for the man, as she was aware of his wrong doings in the past.

Once they had all left the office, Bill left his office at the last-minute, appearing to have panicked his whole way through the meeting. Although Bill was a stern authority figure in Quinn's eyes, who always pushed her to do only the best at her job, she knew for a fact he held no self-confidence in the presence of those who thought they stood on higher ground than him.

Bill brushed past Quinn carelessly, seemingly unaware of her. Quinn quickly followed closely behind, eager to report what she had discovered. "Mr Knight!" She called, as she was not permitted to call him by his first name in the workplace.

Bill had just pulled free a folder from a stack of paperwork, and span around at the sound of her voice. Quinn noted to herself he appeared unusually startled, but brushed it off.

"I found a lead on our guy! You know the one that was reported last week?" she announced, hiding the pride that she felt. Bill merely raised an eyebrow in question, seemingly unsurprised but intrigued.

He paused for a moment, as if he was unsure of how to reply. But a minute later he did, and asked in a hurried tone, "Where is he?"

Bill began to walk in a rushed pace once again, and Quinn trailed behind him hurriedly. "There was a sighting of him two miles from Arkham, and he stole some Mustang." Quinn explained, as Bill ended up near the coffee maker.

He poured himself a cup slowly, taking a sip before another second could pass. Bill waved his hand as a signal to continue, so Quinn complied. "If I go today, I'll be in Gotham before any other papers, and-"

Quinn stopped mid sentence, as Bill's attention had completely slipped from her. She frowned in puzzlement, and turned around to see what he was looking at.

All of the office held identical expressions of curiosity, as all their eyes were locked on a new story that was being broadcast on a nearby television. A young blonde haired intern turned up the volume, going unseen by the transfixed people.

"_-was last heard from five years ago. Mr Queen has reportedly confirmed he was the only survivor of the accident, that took the lives of seven people. Including local resident, Sarah Lance, survived by her sister Laurel-" _

Quinn stared wide-eyed at the screen, although the story soon finished. All eyes ended up on her, some with looks of confusion, others with knowing sympathy.

_Oliver?_

Her features remained numb and blank from shock, as the prospect of Oliver Queen returning from the dead was impossible. After a few shouts of orders from Bill, her co-workers re-started their tasks at hand.

"Quinn?"

The woman in question turned her head in the direction that her name was spoken, and was met with the confused eyes of Bill. Nevertheless the look faded as soon as she spotted it, and his voice gained a business like tone.

"I'm reassigning you. Get the story from Queen."

However the order fell on deaf ears, as Quinn was already storming off to her desk. With no time to spare she grabbed her purse and jacket, and after a minute she made a move to leave the building.

"Where are you going?"

"To see someone."

That someone was her friend Dinah, who she knew was sure to have seen the news. The legal aid office was not too far from the newspaper, so without a thought she began to journey on foot.

_Interesting. _

The law aid office was awfully fast paced, as the hustle and bustle was very easy to point out. Quinn swept through the lines of desks for around two minutes, before she came face to face with Dinah.

In a true Dinah Lance fashion, she was piling up some letters at her desk, and was closely inspecting one that was addressed to her in curled writing. Realizing Dinah didn't know she was there, Quinn decided to speak up.

"Did you see it?"

Dinah glanced upwards with a blank look plastered on her face, looking unsurprised to see Quinn standing in front of her. She nodded wordlessly, placing the object down.

Quinn was well aware that despite her emotionless stance, Dinah was feeling very emotional. She had loved Oliver very much, and the fact that Oliver cheated on her with her sister had hurt her deeply.

At times her eyes would betray her, showcasing what she was feeling with just one look. An uncomfortable silence filled the air, till Dinah rolled her eyes at Quinn.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Dinah-"

"It's Laurel."

Quinn scoffed in annoyance, seeing as how she had called Dinah by her first name since they were kids. Her insistence upon it was tiresome, and frankly it was rather random she had decided to want to be called by her middle name.

"I just wanted to know if you were okay," explained Quinn, leaning over Dinah's desk. Dinah raised a questioning eyebrow at her, and shook her head. "How do you think?"

Quinn gulped, as Dinah's watchful eyes glazed over her. "You know," Dinah began, with an accusing tone, "I figured you'd be over at his place now."

Quinn frowned confusedly, wondering what Dinah meant. "Don't think I didn't notice Quinn. The way you looked at Oliver when we were together was pretty hard to miss." Dinah glared menacingly.

_Oh._

A flash of hurt erupted in Quinn, finding Dinah's angry tone rather hurtful. Maybe she had held some feelings for one of her best friends all those years ago. However Oliver belonged to Dinah, and she had never even considered trying to break them up.

"You know I never would have tried anything." Quinn stated firmly, determined to defend herself from Dinah's comments. Dinah brushed a hand through her hair, and let out a tired sigh.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just-" Quinn nodded in understanding, as Dinah needn't apologize. Hoping to break the tension that had surfaced between the pair, Quinn cracked a smile. "Bill's making me interview him."

Both women chuckled lightly, as they were both aware of Oliver's past behaviour. Without warning Quinn's phone buzzed, interrupting the ongoing laughter. Quinn fished out her phone from her purse, and saw a missed call from none other than her boss.

"Go on," Dinah nodded, "we'll talk later?" "Yeah." Agreed Quinn, realizing the stack of work that Dinah was attending to. "You working on a big case?" she questioned, finding it unusual for Dinah to look so stressed.

"You have no idea."

...

For as long as she could remember, Quinn knew of a way that was always guaranteed to get her the location of where Oliver was. Whether it was at a bar, a hotel, or his house, she would soon know.

And that was how Quinn found herself on the doorstep of Tommy Merlyn's place, somewhat reluctant in being there. Although Quinn loved Oliver to death, at times she found Tommy to be quite insufferable.

And as much as his personality could at times irritate her, she understood why he and Oliver had been friends for such a long time. Womanizer, rich, rebellious, it didn't take a genius to see the resemblance.

Quinn held out her hand to knock on Tommy's oak wood door, but never had the chance to. The door burst open, revealing a disgruntled looking Tommy. He appeared half-dressed, as his hair was messy and unkempt, and parts of his shirt was poking out from his jeans.

"Quinny!"

"Moron!"

With a scowl upon her face at what Tommy had called her, Quinn shoved past him roughly, into his home without an invitation. Quinn glared at Tommy, as he continued to look only amused at her attitude.

"Sure Quinn," mocked Tommy, "you can come in." Tommy shut the door afterwards, and sauntered over to face Quinn. "Where is he?" she demanded, deciding to forget her annoyance.

Realizing who the "he" Quinn was referring to, his facial features softened slightly. "Look," Tommy began, "it's been a very-" "Tommy where is Oliver?" she sighed, shaking her head tiredly, cutting him off.

"At his house." Replied Tommy simply, easing Quinn's tension. Before she understood what was happening, Quinn noticed a small smirk appear on Tommy's face. "Only came to squeeze me for info about Ollie huh?" Tommy remarked, seeming to be thinking to himself.

"Not here for a little one on one with me?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, making a mental note to tell Oliver how Tommy's pick up lines had progressed over the years. "And what would I write about?" sneered Quinn mockingly. "Ten ways to a more annoying you?"

Seemingly bored with her, Tommy snorted in response.

"I was just about to go there now."

"Well let's get going then."

Widening his eyes, Tommy stared in disbelief. "You don't seriously think your riding shotgun with me?" Quinn flashed him a fake smile, and patted him on the forehead. "Yeah. I do."

...

Despite Tommy's whiny protests, barely an hour later both her and Tommy were standing outside the Queen Manor. As a child, Quinn had frequently been brought to the house for play dates, and as she grew older, often came to stay over with both Oliver and Tommy.

Quinn bit her lip to stifle her laughter, seeing as how Tommy had not changed much from the loud mouthed eighth grader he was. Tommy shot her a confused frown, but before he could press on, the door was opened by none other than Raza the maid.

She appeared relatively surprised to see the two of them, but let them both in regardless. After a minute or two she brought them upstairs, and ordered them to stay there till told otherwise.

Apparently Oliver still hadn't arrived at the house yet, so Quinn understood that Oliver's mother and his sister Thea should see him first. They were of course family, and from her visits over the years they had both missed him greatly.

_Speaking of family..._

Whilst Tommy's eyes were trailing over the room they were waiting in, Quinn's thoughts wandered in the direction of Mrs Queen, who had began seeing Mr Queen's friend Walter. Often when Quinn had come over to Oliver's when she was younger, she and Oliver had sometimes caught sight of Oliver's friend from his company Walter.

Quinn had commented that she found him rather creepy, and she'd also got the feeling Oliver didn't particularly like him either. But most of all she worried about how he was dealing with his father's death, not to mention the fact of where he had been the past five years.

Mr Queen had always been a sweet guy, and despite not being directly told, she knew Oliver had admired and loved the man greatly. But now that he was gone... But really, who knew what was going on?

...

Not much time passed, before Quinn was following Tommy into Oliver's room. Predictably there was no changing his mind, so Quinn reluctantly followed suit. Tommy swiftly pushed the door open, and there he was.

Oliver had his back to both, and seemed to be looking at something that he was holding in his hands. "What'd I tell you?" asked Tommy rhetorically. "Yachts suck."

Oliver spun around, and both men embraced in a friendly hug. Quinn remained in her place at the doorway, just happy to see him in the room with her and Tommy again.

"Tommy Merlyn."

"I've missed you buddy."

Still, it felt strange even hearing his voice again, causing her breath to hitch slightly. Once they pulled apart, Oliver's eyes immediately landed with Quinn's. A happy grin erupted on both of their faces, as they looked upon one another.

"Haven't you got hug for an old friend Q?"

Quinn grinned at her old nickname, and rushed over to give him a hug. She hitched on tightly, still finding this situation all so unbelievable.

"Is it too soon to say I'm glad you cut your hair?"

Tommy roared with laughter, just as Oliver and Quinn stopped hugging. A light chuckle was escaping Oliver's lips, already answering her question for her. "I'm glad you're back." She grinned, deliberately trying not to publicise the deep roots of what she was feeling.

Oliver looked between both Quinn and Tommy, his eyebrows raised rather curiously. "So you two didn't kill each other while I was gone?"

...

Not too long after the three of them had finally got to see each other once again, Quinn and Tommy joined The Queen's for dinner. Quinn seated herself next to Tommy, who began to list all that Oliver had missed out on while he was on the island.

As simple as top ten singles, celebrity scandals and tv show finales, Tommy wasted no time in catching Oliver up. Quinn smiled the whole way through, finding the things Tommy was listing rather funny. At times his humour was rather vulgar, but this time she found he was being rather sweet.

_God_ forbid,_ he ever finds out I called him sweet._

"Okay what else did you miss? Superbowl winners, giants, Steelers saints, packers, giants again... Oh! Black president, that's new, oh and Lost, they were all dead, I think..." "Oh yeah they were dead." Quinn confirmed, nodding with a smile at Tommy.

Quinn snorted to herself, but then suddenly caught sight of Oliver, who was observing Walter and Moira. She had wanted to give him the heads up that his mom had remarried, but she had never got the chance to even string the words together.

However Quinn knew for a fact Oliver wasn't stupid, far from it, and it looked like he was quickly catching on to the nature of their relationship. Oliver caught her staring at him, and signalled with his eyes in his mother and Walter's direction.

She nodded, knowing he was wordlessly asking if they were together. "Sorry." She mouthed, feeling slightly put off by the food that was on her plate. Oliver simply shot her a grateful smile, which Quinn returned sympathetically.

Thea leaned forward against the table, she appeared to be curious about something, and barely a second past before she spoke. "What was it like there?" Thea asked. Oliver cocked his head in her direction, strangely enough, he looked to be unaffected by the question.

All activity stopped the moment the question left Thea's lips, as all were interested to know how Oliver would reply.

"Cold." He replied bluntly.

Quinn frowned at his answer, finding the way he had reacted rather odd. The Oliver she remembered would have been more descriptive, and would have complained about the lack of what he deemed "necessities."

"Tomorrow!" announced Tommy, pointing his fork at Oliver. "You and me, we're doing the city, we've got a lot to catch up on." Tommy announced, without waiting for an answer. "That sounds like a great idea!" chimed in Moira in agreement.

"Good, then I was hoping to swing by the office."

Quinn only just suppressed a laugh, as both Walter and Moira froze at the subtle mention of the company. Quinn knew for a fact from what she had observed, Walter had got quite comfortable being the big man in the office.

She wasn't completely sure why Moira had looked startled at her son's words, maybe she thought Walter was more suitable, or something like that. Although Quinn liked the Queen's immensely, for as long as she could remember, Moira had always seemed so... was fake the right word?

Quinn dismissed the thought as soon as it came, thinking that it made more sense for Walter to be more bothered by the question. Attempting to stop thinking about how Moira reacted, Quinn returned her concentration to the matter at hand.

"Well there's plenty of time for that, it isn't going anywhere." Brushed off Walter, failing in making it look like it wasn't a big deal. What surprised Quinn more was that Oliver just continued to smile at Walter, and didn't even make the slightest noise.

Suddenly Raisa tripped, but fortunately enough, Oliver caught the bowel of fruit before it went flying. "I'm so sorry Mr Oliver," she apologized, standing straight. Surprisingly Oliver replied to her in what Quinn guessed as Russian, however she never remembered him ever speaking Russian before.

"Dude you speak Russian?" remarked Tommy with an amused smile, voicing her thoughts. "Yeah, I never knew you took Russian." agreed Quinn. "I didn't realize you took Russian at college Oliver." Spoke Walter, staring at him with an interested look. "I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother Walter."

_Ah. There it is._

Identical grim looks appeared on both Walter and Moira's faces, noted Quinn, finding it stupid they looked so surprised. She shouldn't have had to be the one to tell him with a nod, it should have been them. It was bad enough, what with the way Dinah had been acting around Tommy, and if her suspicions were correct...

Predictably an awkward silence ensued, which was broken by Thea denying she had told Oliver anything when all eyes fell on her. "She didn't have to." Fired Oliver, who wasn't acting particularly pleased.

Moira nodded at his comment, and grasped a hold of Walter's hand. "Oliver," she began, "Walter and I are married, and I don't want you to think either one of us did anything to disrespect your father."

"We both believed that Robert like you was er, well, gone." Added Walter, unaffected by the previous comment made by Oliver. "It's fine." Insisted Oliver, still acting too blank and unaffected in Quinn's opinion.

Oliver rose from his seat afterwards, and stared at his mother. "May I be excused?" he asked. His mother nodded, and he wasted no time in leaving. Oliver walked past Tommy, and whilst he reminded him of their engagement for the following day, Oliver did not take his eyes of his mother.

Quinn glanced at the now retreating back of Oliver, and felt the urge to go after him. Quinn turned her eyes to Mrs Queen, and stood up before she stated what she was about to do. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to be excused too." "Thank you for having me over."

As she did with Oliver, Mrs Queen nodded. Before anyone else could make a comment or ask any questions, Quinn raced out of the dining room, and in the direction she had seen Oliver walk off to.

...

"Hey!"

Although she was panting slightly, Quinn eventually caught up with the fast paced Oliver. He turned around to see who had called him, and raised his brows at the sight of Quinn.

"You always were crappy at running track in school," smirked Oliver, earning himself a painless thump on the arm. "I wasn't that bad." Quinn mock glared, pretending to be offended.

Figuring it was now or never, Quinn decided to press on. "I know this will seem like a really dumb question, but are you okay? With all of this, you know, the change?"

Oliver considered his answer for a moment or two, before responding. "I never was much for change." He shrugged carelessly, brushing her off. Quinn tilted her head a fraction or so, and stared at Oliver with a frown.

Something just didn't feel right. Yeah, he was more or less the same, but something about him was different. Quinn couldn't put her finger on it, and before she could think more, Oliver talking caused her to snap out of it.

"Quinn!"

Oliver chuckled lightly to himself as she went bright red, as he had never and never would get tired of making her squirm. "What were you thinking about?" he smiled, for a moment dropping the odd persona he had seemed to pick up over the time he had been gone.

She wasn't going to admit what she had in fact been thinking of, so she decided to reply with something else. "I was just thinking," she paused , deliberately trailing off, "how you my poor friend, survived without cable."

It was nice to hear him laugh, as the way he had acted at the dinner table had been quite cold. Once the laughter died down, Quinn sighed. "Well, I hope you enjoy tonight, now that you're in a bed." She smiled, thumping him on the arm once more.

She made a move to go, but Oliver called out her name at the last moment. Surprised, Quinn span around to see Oliver wearing a rather curious expression.

"Where are you going?"

"I've got to go to work tomorrow, and glare at my boss," she explained. "Don't let Tommy annoy you too much!" she called, before walking away. "If that's actually possible." she added, underneath her breath.

The last sounds she heard were of Oliver's dying laughs, as he closed the door of his bedroom.

...

Quinn settled herself into her car, but for a moment couldn't bring herself to start the engine. She clutched her chest tightly, laughing to herself at how stupid she must look.

Hating that she was stupidly teary eyed and wimpish over her friend, who would never look at her in the way she wanted to, Quinn shook her head to herself. She pulled out her car keys, and before she knew it she was pulling out of The Queen's driveway.

_God I missed him._

The following day, Quinn arrived at work fully prepared to bury herself in her work. After receiving a lecture of Bill over forgetting to get a few details of Oliver while they story was still hot, and her lead about the assassin having dried up as of an hour ago, she wasn't particularly sure of how she was going to occupy her time.

Nevertheless she settled at her desk, and began searching through her mail. Usually they could lead to stories that she could print, but that was a rare occurrence. Aliens, pets, and a man-bat, soon Quinn gave up after reading her seventh letter.

She groaned in distaste, rubbing her forehead. She'd also gained a horrible headache, that was continuing to pound ruthlessly. Convincing herself that getting herself some aspirin was unnecessary, Quinn continued to pile up the letters. However before she could make any further progress, the sound of her phone ringing interrupted her activity. "Hello Quinny!"

_Oh screw it, I need the aspirin._

"Thomas," Quinn greeted as she clutched the phone, with a fake cheer in her tone, "and here I thought my day couldn't get any worse." "Ah," noted Tommy, as though he was remembering something, "I think you'll change your mind."

"You know that building near Adam Hunt's place?"

"Tall? Open spaced? Really, really, vast?"

"That's the one."

"We're throwing a little welcome back party for Ollie there, tomorrow at nine."

Quinn snorted at Tommy's use of the word "little", as when it came to parties, that word ended up being overpopulated and extremely rowdy. And the place near Adam Hunt's? It was an odd choice of scenery to say the least, as the party Tommy was throwing could simply be held in one of his favourite clubs he'd mentioned to her over half a dozen times.

"Why there?"

"Oh, I let Oliver choose."

Okay what was with him? She perfectly understood Oliver wouldn't be exactly the same as before, but considering the circumstances it was probably inevitable. But from the very little time she had seen of Oliver, Quinn was sure something was wrong. The way he had acted at the dinner table... it had seemed to hardened, too planned...

"Why there?"

"No clue. Are you gonna be there?"

Quickly confirming she would, Quinn hung up on him the first chance she got. And what was with the scenery choice? Subtlety had never been Oliver's strong suit, but right next door to Adam Hunt? He might as well be wearing a sign tomorrow, in bold and underlined, **Make me one of your targets!**

Not to mention the fact that if Dinah's dad came there, he'd have a field day if he could arrest the partygoers for something. Too much noise, public indecency, if there was even a lick of evidence that could prove so, he'd use it. After what happened to Sarah while she had been with Oliver, to say Quentin didn't like Oliver would be an understatement.

_Sarah._

She hadn't really known Sarah that well, as Dinah often took Quinn up to her room if she came over to her house. She had been nice enough, and her and Dinah had got on perfectly fine.

When Sarah had confided in her about Oliver cheating with her, she had grown incredibly angry. It had put her in an awkward position, as Quinn was good friends with both Dinah and Oliver. Finally after angrily ranting at Sarah, she informed her that if she did not tell Dinah, she would.

Two days later, Quinn checked to see if she had followed through on telling Dinah, but instead discovered through a few people who Sarah had left on a boat with Oliver. Flying into a rage, Quinn wasted no time in telling Dinah of what she had learned. But of course Dinah never got to see Sarah again, as she had died in the accident, as did Mr Queen, and supposedly Oliver. Yet here he was, back and an even more confusing puzzle then before.

"**QUINN!"**

Dinah stormed furiously over to her desk, and ugly scowl plastered on her face. Quinn refused to look Dinah in the eye, and sighed to herself. "What did I do now?" she groaned, finally looking at Dinah. She folded her arms as Quinn spoke, as though what she was saying was a joke.

A stare of puzzlement began to replace Dinah's previous look, and seemed to be thinking to herself. "So you weren't the one, that set up the little meeting I just had with Oliver?" Quinn had to think for a moment, before she came to a unsurprising conclusion.

Dinah frowned to herself, as she watched Quinn curse under her breath. Quinn held up her hands in surrender for a second, and spoke firmly. "I had no idea." Dinah shot her a weak smile, and nodded. "Was it that bad?" Quinn smiled sympathetically, gesturing for Dinah to join her. She grabbed a seat from an unoccupied desk, and seated herself next to Quinn.

"Okay, start from the beginning..."

...

Dinah and Quinn had discussed what had happened for some time, till Quinn had walked her home. She had only just got back to her apartment, and had dumped her stuff elsewhere. Quinn collapsed on to her couch feeling drained from her workload. She glanced upwards at the clock that was placed above her fireplace. It had only just gone nine o'clock, so she was content to have a few hours to herself before bed. Suddenly she remembered that she was supposed to get something sent to her, Quinn headed to her doorway. Sure enough outside her door was a parcel that had gone unnoticed, and on top of it was a letter. Quinn grabbed both and shut her door, glancing at the two objects as she did.

She slowly walked back into the living room, and placed her parcel on her coffee table. It was a birthday present she had ordered online for someone at work, and she wasn't particularly surprised to see it. However the letter was another story, seeing as how she didn't get that much mail, apart from bills, or rare letters from friends. The envelope wasn't addressed, and had been sealed firmly shut.

Quinn tore open the letter, and inside revealed a small folded piece of paper. Quinn pulled out the piece of paper, and unfolded it till she could view its contents. The letter contained only a single word, one that which Quinn rolled her eyes at, as she threw both the letter and envelope into the fire. _Soon. _It had read. She would have recognised that handwriting anywhere, and no attempts had been made to hide to hide who had written it.

"China." Hissed Quinn.

Dismissing her thoughts, Quinn dropped to the table, and picked up her phone. It was buzzing madly, and whoever was calling seemed to have a desperate need to talk to her. It was a text from Eric, aka her "partner in crime." He often gathered photos for her stories, and collaborating with him was a pleasant thing to do.

_Figured you'd wanna know. There's another dressed up vigilante in town._

Quinn raised her eyebrows at the way he had worded the message, but nevertheless scrolled down anyway. Attached to the message was a photograph, and it was not your ordinary one. Dressed in a similar fashion to Robin Hood, it was a hooded man leaping from a building. Figuring she would ask Eric why he had sent her the photo at work, Quinn placed down her phone.

...

The following night began with Quinn queuing outside Oliver's chosen venue for his party. Most of the day she had spent overanalysing China's letter, and what it could mean for her. It just didn't make sense. She hadn't seen China for two years, and she hadn't even known China directly, so to speak. Said party was a welcoming distraction for Quinn, and she was hoping the party would take her mind off what had happened.

As she had expected, once she arrived down the escalator, her eyes were met with a crowd of men and women partying. The music pounded throughout the building, and Quinn wouldn't have been surprised if Adam Hunt could hear it, all the way up in his office.

Quinn found the prospect of openly engaging with Tommy displeasing, so instead she settled at a place at the bar. From her place at the stool, Quinn had an all too clear view of Tommy interacting with a few young woman. They were all the same in his eyes, and Quinn wouldn't doubt for a second he would have trouble placing a few of their names. Simply settling for the drink she had ordered, Quinn continued to look on with amused eyes at the ongoing antics.

Blinding white lights continued to flash throughout the room, till Quinn noticed Oliver approaching the room. He was looking at his phone, but he looked up just as she noticed him doing so. A minute after she noticed Tommy span around, along with his battalion of girls. Before he even got down the stairs, Tommy signalled to the DJ to cut off the music, and he rushed over to Oliver.

"Everybody! Hey!" he cheered, grabbing everybody's attention. "MAN OF THE HOUR!" announced Tommy, slapping Oliver's chest as he spoke. People raised their glasses and cheered at Tommy's words, whereas Quinn and the bartender nearby simply laughed.

"And ladies please, give this man a proper homecoming!"

As soon as the words had left his lips, Queen's We are the Champions began to play. Rolling her eyes at Tommy's parting words, Quinn attempted to ignore the sting of jealousy that had come attached to the words. Shaking it off, Quinn returned to texting Eric again. The photo apparently had been of a hooded "menace," who had attacked Adam Hunt's place.

She'd heard that this Robin Hood wannabe had put a few of Adam Hunt's guys in the hospital, and that he meant business. Although she found his methods questionable, Quinn had to admit Adam was no saint. This guy had to have know this, or else the attack would appear rather random, and more of a "take from rich people" sort of prejudice. She found the topic interesting, and she had already agreed to take the story and look into it further.

Just as she shut off her phone, Quinn noticed Oliver had been pulled up upon a platform. He swallowed a whole glass of tequila in one go, and smiled, seemingly content. "I've missed tequila!" he declared, as a roar of cheers echoed throughout the building.

Not to mention the fact Bill had subtlety tried to hint to her, that he wanted her to find out who this guy was. This troubled her, as it wasn't as though she could just go up to him and ask. And if he meant well with what he was doing, who was she to just reveal his identity? Maybe he had a reason for hiding under that hood, and was doing what he was doing for a reason.

_Hi Green Bean, I'm your new stalker._

Whatever the reason was, she knew she wouldn't discover it tonight.

...

Noticeably Quinn had seen Oliver head out with Dinah, but it was understandable, as they did need to talk a little more. From what she had heard about their confrontation earlier, Dinah was still very angry. And unfortunately for Oliver, that anger was directed at him. She dearly missed the times when no one hated someone for something, and Dinah and Oliver still actually held some form of contact with the other.

"Who needs the four horsemen?" snorted Tommy, as he came up to her. "You," he tilted his drink, "are actually here!" Quinn rolled her eyes, and stared blankly at Tommy. Appearing unaffected by this, Tommy smiled. "Ah, what would you do without me?"

"Not listen to bad jokes all day?" fired Quinn, as Tommy mocked fake hurt. "My my your words sting Quinny," he joked, before his attention was grabbed by something. "Ah, you know-" "Say hi to Bella Swan for me." Quinn cut off, seeing him looking for an opening to take off. Quinn didn't bother to say goodbye.

However in that moment, she realised something was wrong. Dinah and Oliver had never fought for this long before, and although there fights when they were together were never other within a snap, the timing just seemed off.

_Where is he?_

His bodyguard John had disappeared as well, but then again he was practically Oliver's shadow. So where were they? Quinn couldn't help but feel curious, as what kind of thing could they be attending to at this time of night? Not to mention the homecoming party Tommy was throwing in his honor, which she was reminded of a few billion times.

_It really is an understatement to say he's acting strange._

Okay that's it. Yes he would need space, but what on earth was so important, that it would be enough for Oliver to ditch his own party? The questions continued to plague her mind, as she entered the outside of the building. She had planned to get some air, and had only planned to go outside for a minute or two.

But before she could even blink, Quinn's eyes locked on to a dark figure. He was on a tightrope sort of thing, that went straight up to the roof of the building she was stood outside. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw it was the same person from the photo, and was heading straight past her.

Knowing full well the flash was off, Quinn snapped a photo of the guy, just as he whizzed past. She quickly checked the photo, and saw she had only captured him from a side view. Obviously she could not detect much from it, but it was a start. Remembering where he had disappeared too, Quinn rushed back inside.

...

Just as she came inside, so did the police. They cut off the music, and the noise level of the party decreased dramatically. And as Quentin made his presence known, Quinn saw Oliver enter from the back of the room. Oliver made some snarky comment from the stage, about the guy with the green hood, and soon came back off.

_Interesting timing..._

They seemed to battle it out for a few minutes, before Quentin was dragged off. The police trailed after him and his partner, and it wasn't too long before Oliver reappeared on stage. "It's way too quiet in here!" declared Oliver. "This is a party!"

Just as what happened earlier, the party regained its noise levels. The dancers began to move again, the music was turned back up, and Oliver joined Tommy for a discussion. Quinn didn't like to interrupt their discussions, considering what they usually consisted of. But the conversation seemed pretty intense, and Tommy ended up on the other end looking unnaturally worried. This sparked her worry, as Tommy and that emotion were as odd to Quinn as DVD box sets and cats.

...

Quinn never got the chance to speak to Oliver, as when he finished talking with Tommy, he had disappeared. She figured he would reappear at some point, and she would see him then. However it was sooner then she had expected, when Oliver sprang out to see her on her way out from her apartment.

Wordlessly he followed her as she continued to walk, however he was the one to break the silence. "So, I hear your finally a journalist."

Quinn cracked a smile at him, as they both knew how much she had wanted to be one. "Don't worry," teased Quinn, "when I get all my fancy awards I'll mention your name." Oliver chuckled along with her, and shot her one of his rare smiles that melted her heart.

"Yep," nodded Oliver, pretending to be serious, "you can now poke your nose in other people's business for money." Quinn shook her head, glad to see some things would certainly never change. "So how is tequila after all these years?" asked Quinn, as they came to a halt nearby a bench.

Oliver shot her a confused look, as though she had just asked him to be play scrabble with her. "Party?" she fired, waving her hand. "Man of the hour and all that?" she spoke slowly, so Oliver could recall what she was recounting.

Slowly it dawned on him, and a look of realization swept across his face. "You were there?" he frowned. Quinn shot him a look of disbelief, finding it not surprising he didn't know that she was there.

Somewhat ignoring Quinn's displeased stare, Oliver decided to go on. Quinn shook her head to herself, smiling as she knew the reason why Oliver was acting so awkward. "What happened?" she asked.

"I-may have told Dinah to stay away from me?"

"Are you kidding me?"

It was Oliver's turn to be surprised, as Quinn had folded her arms whilst sending him an angry glare. "You know what? Your an ass!" Oliver struggled to contain his surprise of Quinn's outburst, and covered it up with a half-hearted, "What?"

"You break her heart by cheating on her, and for five years she believed you were dead!" Quinn visibly cringed at how loud she was, but continued regardless. "Despite everything you've done to her, she reaches out to you and you tell her to "stay away from me?" Quinn air quoted, mocking Oliver as she attempted to badly impersonate his voice.

Satisfied she had go through to him, Quinn let out a breath. Oliver stared at her, a mild look of surprise etched across his face. Quinn frowned at him, noticing the incoming approach of a laugh. "Don't you dare laugh!" she hissed. "Hey!" she snarled, nudging him as he began to chuckle lightly at her. "You're not supposed to laugh!" she protested, but found herself smiling along with him. Yet a small but visable smile crept up on Oliver's face, leaving Quinn highly irratated with him.

"Ass."

"What? You're kinda funny when you're mad!"


End file.
